'Thackeray' Trailer: Nawazuddin Siddiqui instills dread and reverence as Balasaheb Thackeray, Marathi however goes amissDec 26 (AZINS) Last seen in Manto as the poet who wrote on controversial topics, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is back with his yet another controversial pick – Thackeray, where he will portray the influential personality of Shiv Sena mastermind Bal Thackeray.

The late Balasaheb Thackeray is known to the public for many reasons and it would be wrong to judge his personality, but it isn’t very tough to know that Nawazuddin fits into his character on-screen just right.

Coming to the look, it appears that Nawaz was tailor-made for the role, and to top it all, the powerful dialogues and on-time humour make for the character coming on a silver platter for Nawaz.

While the dialogues leave an impact, the one thing which Nawazuddin misses out is catching the Marathi accent. His lingo even now sounds just like he was in Manto and having him recite a few more Marathi words in the trailer could have probably left the impact it always should have. It would however not be right to cross out the possibility that the movie could have a lot more to offer.

Set in the background of Mumbai (then Bombay) riots over the Babri-Masjid case, Balasaheb Thackeray is introduced as the only person who can stop the war. In fact a scene from the trailer involves his conversation with Indira Gandhi where she asks him if all he cares about are Maharashtrians. To that, Thackeray (played by Nawaz) responds, “Main jabhi bhi kehta hoon ki Jai Hind Jai Maharashtra toh Jai Hind pehle kehta hoon Jai Maharashtra baad mein kyunki mere liye mera desh pehle hai, rajya baad mein. (Translated: I always say ‘Jai Hind Jai Maharashtra’ because the country comes first for me and then it is the state).”

But Thackeray also has a soft corner for his people, which is why in the scene just before the one with Indira Gandhi, he is seen standing with a freshly-beaten theatre owner, blackmailing him by saying, “Now this (Hindi movies) won’t work here because the state belongs to Maharashtrians.”

From the looks of the trailer, the role is almost tailor-made for Nawazuddin, but will he be able to pick up in the accent? The movie, also starring Amrita Rao as his wife, is slated to release on 25th January with Kangana Ranaut starrer Manikarnika.